X5: The Next Generation
by Maxdarkangelgirl
Summary: It is the year 2035, an outraged Renfro is seaking to regain her place as head of Manticore, how will she do that?


The Next Generation

X5: The Next Generation

Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel, blah blah. I do own Nicole, Ashley, Jamie, Eva and Jack. Also I own this fan fic.

Thanks goes out to my friend Courtney for helping me through my ideas and giving me suggestions to use in this story. Thanks Courtney!

Renfro's P.O.V.  
Its 2035, and Manticore has gone downhill from the escape of the X5's and the presumed deaths of X5-452, X5-599, and X5-734. I have learned that X5-452 has had a kid with an outside Manticore male. I have also learned that the kid is unique, she displays traits similar to her moms. What is unusual about this kid is that she always wasn't like this. In fact when she was born she weighed 2 LB, 5 oz. She was lucky to be alive as the doctors told the mother and father. She wasn't right either, she had problems speaking, walking, and remembering. I have also learned that this kids name is Nicole. I'm working on finding the father's name, but the mother covered some tracks well when she was alive. This kid is my last hope, the last hope for me to regain my approval with the committee.

Back in time to 2030, Zack's P.O.V. The accident   
I remember that day just like it was yesterday. It was the day all of us found out that Nicole was more than what you could see on the outside.   
The day started as all of us where around the pool, some of us swimming. I had on my swimming suit and Nicole was chasing a ball around the pool. She didn't have her swimming suit on Nicole didn't swim. God, she could hardly walk and talk to us. Think about putting a deformed girl in the water? It just didn't happen.   
Jack and Eva were in the pool, the family was having a BBQ. I was talking to Logan, who was watching Nicole very carefully. Logan suddenly yelled, "Nicole! Walk around the pool, don't run!" Nicole looked at him with her chocolate brown eyes. She didn't say anything, of course but she did not do what her father was asking of her. She looked at him for a minute then returned to what she was doing. I got up and ran over to Nicole. I grabbed her and put her back on the grass, "Nicole!" I yelled at her, "Stay on the grass!" she looked past me and cried. I asked, "What's wrong?"   
She pointed, "Ball." That was most of the talking that she did.   
I looked at her, "Stay here and I will get it for you." She didn't say anything but I knew by the look in her eyes that she was going to obey. I got her ball for her and returned it to its rightful owner. She looked at me as if to say thank you but smiled instead. I, as a proud uncle, returned the smile and said, "you're welcome just don't go near the pool again." I returned to my seat next to Logan. We both watched the girl for a while. She didn't play with the ball, just watched Jack and Eva in the pool. After this I suggested to Logan, "Maybe she just wants to be with her cousins. It can't be easy on her not being able to swim like that. To have physical restraints on her."  
Logan nodded and looked at the girl, "I am just afraid of what will happen if she gets to confidant with herself and she doesn't know the difference of swimming in a pool and swimming in a canal. It's just easier to say no to swimming." I didn't agree with Logan's decision but I nodded anyway.   
Just then a timer went off in the house. Logan said, "Excuse me, I need to go check on the food." I nodded. A few minutes after watching Nicole very close to crying for being ripped apart from her cousins, I was ready to cry myself. If she were my kid I would let her swim no matter what anyone said against it. Logan called from inside the house, "Hey Zack! I need your help!" I nodded knowing that Jack would watch Nicole. Eva had gone inside to help her mother.   
We must have been so stupid as not to hear the big splash. I don't exactly know what happened but I know when Logan and I came outside again I couldn't believe what I was seeing! Nicole was in the pool, head down under water! "Nicole!" Logan screamed as he ran over to the pool to get her out. I just had a look of horror as I ran to the pool, grabbed my shirt took it off and swam as fast as I could to where Nicole was submerged in the water. I reached her first. I yelled to Logan, "I got her, just get out and I'll hand her to you!" Logan obeyed. I held onto Nicole as I brought her head above water.   
As I brought her over to Logan, he had a look of terror on his face as I handed her to him. He genteelly set her down on the patio, preparing to do CPR. As anyone who knows CPR he checked her vitals first as I pulled myself out of the water and looked at Nicole. He checked her breathing and heart rate. Not doing anything he looked curiously at me as he felt her pulse rate on her wrist then her chest.   
I looked him over, "what are you waiting for? Go! Do it!"  
He looked at me confused, "She doesn't need it, her vitals are fine. Her heart rate is more than it should be, but that is it." Not trusting him I checked it out myself, he was right. Less worried now, I wanted to know how she was like this and still not awake. I yelled at Jamie inside, "Jamie call an ambulance! Nicole's fallen in the pool!"  
Jamie, Zhane's husband, was shocked. She got on the phone as soon as I told her too. I looked down at Nicole's tiny 4 year old face, Logan was holding his daughter in his arms. He was even crying, "How could this happen?" He asked, "We were watching her. Who was watching her after you went inside?"  
"Jack." With that I looked around the yard for Jack, I saw him at the other end just coming back. I ran to him, "Where were you?" I asked being the typical worried uncle, "You almost got Nicole killed!"   
He looked as shocked as I was "What? I only was gone for a minute Oreo got out again. I thought that she was ok just tossing the ball around to herself." I put it together as I went to look at the pool, I hadn't of thought of that one before. As I looked in the pool I saw what I dreaded most, Nicole had chased after the ball in the pool.   
The ambulance arrived and strapped Logan's little baby up. Within minutes the paramedics were both happy and surprised. They were glad to announce that Nicole had no major injuries and she was going to be fine. They were puzzled at the fact that she escaped breathing and from what they could tell, no water in her lungs. They still had to treat it like she wasn't breathing. They strapped her in the stretcher and put a towel over her to help her dry off.   
Logan rode with Nikki to the hospital while I drove in a car with Zhane. When we got there we found Logan waiting in a room with a doctor. The doctor told us that Nicole had suffered no major injures and could go home as soon as she woke up.   
He looked at us, "Nicole is a special kid. What I don't understand is that it seems as though she was under water for at least 5 minutes. When we checked her out, the only thing that is wrong with her is a bump on the head, no water in her lungs or anything like that. Which is good but odd. We had a kid here last week that was in the water for 3 minutes and she almost died on us. Its just amazing how Nicole excepted with minor injuries."   
What happened next I will never forget. As the doctor rumbled on and on about some long-term health coverage for special kids like Nicole, Nikki began to wake up. Logan held her hand tighter as he stocks his little girls check. I watched as Nikki came too. No one expected for her to say anything. She looked at all of us she looked around the room then back at us. Smiling she said, "Hi." We were all in shock. No one knew what to say.  
Except Logan, he looked at his little girl and said, "Hey Nicole. How is the head?"  
She looked at Logan, "Daddy I'm fine. I wanna go home."   
Logan looked at the doctor who all he could do was nod. Logan smiled at Nicole, "Sure baby. Let's go. Want me to carry you?"  
Nikki looked at the floor, "No I wanna walk." Logan shrugged as he got up and helped Nikki to the floor and we all walked out of the hospital.

That is one day I will never forget. Our little Nikki seemed to snap out of whatever fantasy land she was in and started to show signs of X5 behavior. Over the next few days she seemed more interested in talking and being with us. She would start to memorize long phone numbers and started to recognize bar codes. We all kept it a secret, fearing that if Manticore ever found out she would be sent there and we'd never see her again. That is the last thing I want to have happen, Renfro coming over uninvited and taking Nikki away. ~Sigh~ my worst fear was about to be confirmed.

June 2035.   
"Ok Nicole, this time you are going to go to sleep." I told Nicole as I helped her into her bed for about the 10th time that night. To tell the truth, I was a bit tired myself too. Putting Nicole to bed was not an easy task. Over the years I have learned the secret at making her tiered. It wasn't easy and it took a lot of trail and error.   
I pulled out the book again, her favorite one, Anne Of Green Gables. I sat by her in her full size bed and started to read. Nicole leaned against me and watched the words as I read, "Chapter 6, Marilla makes up her mind." As I started to read the words I saw out of the corner of my eyes, my little niece getting sleepier and sleepier. As soon as I read the last sentence for the chapter looking down I knew that Nikki was asleep on my arm again. Smiling I leaned down and kissed her on the top of her head. Very gently I reached over and put the book back on the nightstand. Then I switched the night light off. Deciding that it would be better to stay with her for the night I closed my eyes and was soon asleep.   
The next morning I awoke to find Nicole and Eva downstairs practicing a dance retinue. When Nicole saw me she flashed a smile, "Hey Uncle Zack."  
"Hey Nikki." No matter how many times one of them calls me Uncle Zack I will never get used to the sound of that.  
I sat at the table with the rest of the adults. Logan turned to me, "Hey Zack, would you mind taking Nikki and her band to their gig today? I just can't make it."   
I rolled my eyes, Logan never could make it to any of their gigs, "Sure but after that I have to go to a meeting. Is it ok to just leave them there?"  
Logan looked confidant, "Sure Nikki is with her friends, I think she'll be fine there. I'll pick her up then." Logan continued to eat his breakfast.   
About an hour later, Nicole and I were in my car driving to the hotel where she and her friends would play. Nikki didn't talk to me. I knew she was mad at her father for not coming to her performances. I told her to break the silence, "You're dad cares for you very much. He's just not sure how to show it." She didn't even look at me. I continued, "You know, Logan hasn't been the same since your mom"   
She interrupted, "My mom, is it always about her? Oh Nicole you have your moms figure, her eyes, so forth. It's not my fault that she died when I was 3. Why does everyone blame me?"  
I was quick to respond, "No one's blaming you Nikki. Everyone just misses your mother. Even I do. You were to young at the time to know her, I don't blame you if you don't miss her as much."  
"I did know her. I do remember how she used to sing to me when I wouldn't fall asleep. She was the only person who had confidence in my abilities. She'd hop in the pool and pull me around to say to I that I was swimming. She would hug me if I had a bad dream. She was the best. I remember her as if it was yesterday." Nicole looked away, as if remembering her mother was too painful.  
A few minutes later we pulled up to the school where their gig was. I looked at Nicole, not sure how to comfort her. "Here we are." I said instead, "Look Nicole I can drive you home if you want." She shock her head got out of the car and headed inside.

The Same Day Nicole's POV, around a few minutes later.  
As I knew, Uncle Zack had no idea what I was going through. He never knew his mom, and I did. I miss her with each day. But nothing I did would ever change her death, so why make a big fuss about it?  
Before I entered the school, I dried off my tears. As I walked in I noticed that Daylan and Cindy were on stage setting everything up on stage. I joined them and in 30 minutes we were ready to perform with the newly arrived Skylar. The band was all here.  
When it was ok to start playing we first played "To The Music" By ATEENS and then we played some more songs.   
An hour and 20 songs later, we were done. I was in the back polishing Daylan's new drum. She wouldn't take care of it herself so I had to. Then a women with short white hair and dark eye complication. She was walking towards me with high heels, stepping at a velocity of about 2 mph.   
I watched her walk up to me. Her dark eyes were shinning and she smiled at me with her rose red lips. They were a bit cracked with older age. Looking at her I guess she is in her late 40s. She stopped about a foot from me. She had to squat down to look at me in the eyes. She paused for about a minute, letting me get a picture of what she looked like. She spoke up, "Hello Nicole. My name is Elizabeth Renfro. You probably don't remember me, I met you along time ago when you were an infant." She could see I had no interest in what she was saying. So, "I knew your mother." At this I perked my head up, I was interested in anyone who knew my mom. She smiled, a little smile, "And I know your dad personally. He's the one that sent me here to pick you up. He wants you to come with me."  
I looked at her confused, "What? What did my dad tell you? If you know them, what are they're names?"  
She smiled again, "You're dad is Logan Calle and your mom is Max/"  
"What was her median name?"  
"Gorvera." She looked at me, "You're a smart one you are. We just have to train you to use your abilities."  
I was confused but not showing it, "how did you know about my abilities?"  
"I trained your mom to use her powers, if you will call them. I could teach you too, if you trust me."  
"What about my dad?"   
"I will call him when we get there. I am sure he will say its alright. He trusts me. Do you believe me?"   
I looked her in the face to see if their was any signs of lying in them, there was none. I told her, "I need to go back home, to get my cloths and personal stuff."  
She looked me in the eyes, "Nicole, where we are going there are cloths that you have to wear. We also have other kids like you too, that were born from any of the X series. We need to teach them how to use the powers."  
"How many?"  
"About 5 in all, including you." I nodded I trusted her, plus it seemed like a nice opportunity to know what was going on in my body. Why I have epilepsy like my mom. Plus this woman's story checks out just fine. "Where is this place? What is it like?"  
She answered my questions individually, "This place is in the woods in Colorado. It has a training camp, a play yard with every type of playground equipment you can imagine, and you can relax like a vacation." Her story seemed to check out ok so I went to tell Dylan that I was going back. Dylan nodded so I left with Renfro.   
Renfro offered her hand to me. I looked at her a second before I took it. Her hand felt so bonny, unlike my dads, which is full and buff. Renfro led me out to her car. She unlocked my side for me. We got in her car and we drove away.  
We got past the sector police no problem. I figured that Renfro had worked out some sort of deal with them. I was bored in that car, Renfro was busy talking on her cell phone so all I could do was look out the car window. Nothing, just trees and grass and signs. I looked at Renfro, "I'm bored."  
"Hang on a sec Agent." She said into her cell phone. Placing it down she reached into her glove department. Pulling out a game boy handed it to me. I haven't seen one of those in forever so my eyes lit up. I gave her thanks she smiled and nodded.   
As we got closer to that place. Renfro told me, "Nicole, look out there."  
"What?" I asked as I looked out the car window. Feeling a sharp pock on my skin I suddenly felt very tiered. Laying my head against the back of the car seat, I feel asleep.

A while later I woke up suddenly to look at my surroundings. I was on some type of army bed with a single blanket on it. In the big room that I was in where 9 other beds. I franticly looked around the room, wondering where I was.   
A voice spoke to me from the left, "So we've got another recruit in here too? What did they do? Take you away from school?"   
I looked at this blond haired girl, she looked maybe 11 or 12, and "No Renfro told me to come why are you here? Where are we?"  
She answered, although she sounded like she didn't want to talk about it, "Renfro is a bad guy, she murdered my mothers sisters. She murdered a bunch of genetically engineered kids, most of them younger that 20. And why exactly are you here?"  
"My mom was a genetically engineered woman. I guess I got some of her genes or something because I can do some of the stuff her group, X5 can. My uncle Zack has tried to help me with that."  
She looked at me confused, "wait a sec, X5? That's what group my mom is from. What was your moms name?"  
"Max, yours."  
"Sly, she's still alive. Renfro's men kidnapped me on the way home from school. That was around 3 days ago. The others are here too." She studied me for a minute. I looked a bit jealous that she had a mom and I didn't. She pursued on talking, "I'm Kelsey, who are you?"  
"Nicole, Nikki is what they call me."  
"Nicole, Nikki, you should go into the bathroom and change into our uniforms. You get one to sleep in and the other one is for daily wear. Don't ask me about washing, they haven't told us about that one yet." She nodded to a little adjacent room next to this bedroom. I got up from the simple bed and walked into the bathroom. In it there were stalls for the toilets and some for the showers. Around the corner where 5 tall lockers. Looking at them, they all had some type of barcode on them. Besides the barcodes, they had aka then a name. I found my name with ease and looked in. Inside where two outfits just like Kelsey had told me. I grabbed the PJ simple blue one. I looked at a clock, 8pm. I asked Kelsey, "Where are the other kids?"  
To Kelsey me talking to her must have been like a written invitation to come in and talk. As soon as I talked she came in to answer me, "The others, they are not like me and you. They were born this way, training and everything. They don't have names. They just go around saying things like 'X8-567 reporting' or whatever. I have gotten in trouble because I don't know what to do. When you get in trouble, they take you to the bad place as the others call it. You get lashed with a whip. And you have to address every adult as sir or mam. I am just happy to have someone else who is new to this. Take my advice and do whatever the others do, don't talk back to any of the grown ups." I nodded smiling thanking her for the advice. Kelsey did seem desperate to have someone to talk to. I just wanted to go home.   
Just then the sounds of kids marching into the hall came into ear shot. An older officer told them, "Bed time soldiers! Get dressed and go to bed!" The kids seemed to nod because not a word was heard after that. As soon as we got out into the beds, the Sargent came to my bed. I looked him in the eyes. He looked at me, "X8, you're supposed to stand up in the presents of a Sargent!" he didn't have to say anything after that, I was out of bed and standing in a heartbeat. He looked at me, "At ease." After I didn't know what to do he said, "Its ok to relax when a Sargent tells you at ease!" I relaxed. He nodded, "Good, you're gonna make a fine soldier. You just need to remember a few rules, never speak unless you are spoken to and follow the orders of your commanding officer, who is X8-559. You must never question the use of his judgement, he has been trained to handle this. Is that clear soldier? Attention!" I got into position quickly. "Is that clear? Or do I need to repeat myself?"  
"Crystal." He looked at me, "Sir."   
The outlines of his lips almost formed a smile, "Very well. You will assemble in line at 0800 hours. You will follow orders to eating. You will then eat in silence, not talking. You will follow your CO then. Now, you must go to sleep so that tomorrow you can get up all ready to go, clear."  
"Yes sir." He saluted me, it took me a minute to figure out I was supposed to salute him back. After I did he nodded and left me to sleep. It took only around 4 minutes for me to go to sleep that night.

Logan's POV  
Grumbling on the way to the school to pick up my child, "Zack you are like a brother to me, but you can get me to hate you sometimes." Honestly, I didn't want him to leave my kid alone but there was nothing that he could do. He had work to do. So did I, but Nikki would be ok on her own, right? Its not like someone could steal her, she's in a public place with her friends.   
I arrived at the school just then. Parked my Aztec outside and walked in. I was expecting Nicole to run up to me and want to be picked up. When I got inside, no one ran to me. I saw Nicole's friends without Nicole sitting with them. Maybe Zack did stay here and take Nicole home after all. Just to be on the safe side, I walked to Dylan and asked her, "Hey Dylan, did Nicole go home with her uncle?"  
Dylan looked at me, confusion written in her eyes, "Nicole did go a while ago. She told me that she went with one of your friends, and she didn't say who."  
Nothing could hide the worried expression on my face, "Alright thank you." I went over to the nearest pay phone. Dialed home and waited for someone to answer. When Zack answered I almost could reframe myself from shouting, but couldn't, "Zack! Did you pick up Nicole?!"   
He paused for a minute, "No I dropped her off and left for work. Why? What's up with my niece Logan?" He said in his overprotective uncle tone.   
I tried to sound as calm as I could at the moment, "I don't know what happened. I came here to pick her up and she was gone." I told him what Dylan told me. I got an idea, "I am gonna call Matt, maybe he knows where she is." I hung up as I called my friend Matt, the detective. I talked to him a bit, it turns out he hasn't seen my kid either. He then tells me that he'll investigate into the crime, if there is one. I didn't know what to think, my child was gone and getting her back was the only thing that mattered to me at the time. She's the only thing I have left, the reason why I get out of bed in the morning. Since Max died, I wouldn't think about getting up if Nikki wasn't there to brighten my day a bit with her preppy attitude. So where is my kid?

Nicole's POV  
It was morning and very cold when I felt someone shaking me awake. I looked up to see Kelsey besides me. She said, "Better hurry, the guard is coming soon so we can get our mornings rations."  
I frowned at her, tried to make myself warmer by cuddling up in a little ball on the sheet. It didn't work, the sheet was made of cotton and the comforter on top wasn't much warmer. It was just a thin layer of cotton.   
Kelsey sat on my bed, "Nicole I know what you're going through, but we have to keep up. Otherwise we'll end up in the bad place." I still didn't know what they meant by the bad place, but it didn't sound like Disneyland or anything like that. So I reluctantly obeyed.   
After we were dressed we went around for our morning meal, a very meager one at that I might add. An egg, a peace of toast, a bit of water, and a whole peach. I ate the so called meal slowly so I could get used to it. After the morning meal, it was some drill excursuses. If you didn't get them right the second time, you were punished. They made you hold out your hand and they slapped you with a whip. I got one lash before I whipped up into shape. After he lashed me, I was not allowed to see any doctor of any sorts. I was made to wait till our break. The break meant you could go to the nurse, led by a drill instructor. By the time I was permitted to go, my arm was almost covered in blood. The doctor looked at me closely until he announced that I was too weak to go out there again. He told me to stay on the metal table and to lie down. He left and when he came back in what seemed like forever he told me to go out with the drill instructor. I nodded and left. I found out that I had been in the room for at least 5 hours, missed lunch. They wouldn't give me any either. They said that since I didn't work for it, I couldn't get any. By dinner I was starving and not able to stand up.   
After dinner we were allowed one hour of recreation before a class, then it was off to bed. We filled into the room, one by one got our other cloths on and went to bed. Like the night before, I slept within 5 minutes of lying down.

Earlier that evening, Zack's POV  
As I wait around for Logan to get any news on my niece I feel so stupid, so dumb. How could I just leave her there? I should have waited for Logan to come down instead of leaving her there by herself. I could have been a better uncle to her, why didn't I?   
As I listen to Logan talking to Matt, the dectetive on the phone, I went into Nicole's room. Still untouched by her today. I look at the unmade bed. A memory comes back to me, a pleasant one. I am seeing Nicole on the bed, me closing the door. I look at her, "Nicole, please go to bed now. You've gotten some water, went to the bathroom, and did everything else. I've already told you a story, twice in fact. Now go to bed."   
Nicole looks at me in her cute kid like way as I tuck her in bed and pull the covers over her. After the covers are on her and she is laying down I place my hand near her face check and start to stroke her check and her hair some. I sit down on the bed besides her and continue stroking her hair some. As I look into her face, I notice how much she really is like Max. She has her mothers' hair, her mothers' eyes and complexion. I turn away for a second remembering Max, not wanting the child to see her uncle in tears.  
I feel her turning to the side as I look again, I notice that her eyes are closed, she has finally gone to sleep. I smile at her as I bend in to kiss her on the forehead. I did slowly got up and exited the room.   
Sitting on her unmade bed, Nicole less, I gazed over her stuffed animals. I have another flashback. This time, it is with Max not Nicole. Max is in the hospital, for the last time. They have her all hocked up to machines everywhere. Her sweat could have taken care of a thirsty football team for a day. She looks me in the eyes, "ZackI know this is hard, but could you promise me this?"  
I looked at her, "Max for my baby sis, anything."  
"Zack after I am gone, promise me that you'll always take care of Logan and Nicole." Her eyes were pleading.   
"Maxyou're not going anywhere. This is just a seizure, you'll be alright."  
"Zack reality check here, this damn implant is burning out, after 7 years. I'm not going to make it. Just promise me that?"  
"You're gonna be fine."  
"Zack" Here eyes showed signs of pain from the implant wearing out on her.  
I was quick to respond, "I promise Max, I promise." That night, Max died. A peaceful death.   
Looking back on all of this, then I didn't realize how lucky I was to have a part of Max alive in some way. Most importantly, how important Nicole was to all of us. I swear if Iwhen I find out who has brought harm to my little Nicole, there will be death written on their face.  
Wherever Nicole is, she better be ok. Scared I can deal with but if she is harmed in any way, there will be trouble.

Logan's POV two months later, Somewhere in Colorado  
We just stared at the sight in front of us, it was almost an exact copy of Manticore. No one knew what to say or expect. Only Zack was the bravest one he loaded his gun put it in his gun belt and moved forward, motioning us to follow. I look at Sly for a moment, the mother of Kelsey. She looks like she has been put through almost every hell imaginable. She knew that her daughter was inside and so was mine.   
All of us went through the front door, no guards tried to stop us. For whatever remained of the guards, took off when they saw us. They knew that they were no match for us. Most of the people or guards here had abandon the place last week with my 'Eyes Only' cast.   
We entered a room that looked like it had been for the children to sleep at. Although there were no children. We heard the muffled sounds of crying in the background. Looking closer we saw  
"KELSEY!" Sly cried as she went to go hug her. Kelsey looked at Sly and hugged her even more. I smiled as I franticly searched the room for my little girl.   
Just then a police man came into the room. He went up to Matt and told Matt, "Sir, there's another black haired girl over by the trauma center. From the looks of it she was beaten up pretty bad." Black haired little girl? NICOLE! I was suddenly over taken by worry that it might be to late though I ran to the trauma section. On the tiny cot I saw what is probably one of the worse sights in my entire life, Nicole helpless laying on the cot. Zack was by her, stroking her hair and holding her hand. He looked up at me, face filled with furry. I must of gone into auto polite because the next thing I knew I was standing right next to Nicole, checking her over for any bruises that might be fatal. Mostly all of them I looked at could be fatal. I stroked my fingers through her hair, her eyes were open although they looked unfocussed and unused for a while. I whispered to her, "Its gonna be ok baby, daddy's here."  
She tried to look at me, "Daddy?" I nodded as I replied to her question. Then she said something I didn't know would ever come out of her mouth again, "Mommy?"  
I looked at her, "Mommy's not here, she's never going to be here again."  
She looked as though she had no idea what I was talking about and repeated, "Mommy." I just stared at her as I ran my fingers through her hair, telling her everything was gonna be all right.  
Just then Matt came in and looked at my little baby. He ordered, "Zack carry her outside, the paramedics are waiting." Zack carefully removed Nicole from the bed. He gently carried her outside, not sure of what injuries she might have. Nicole kept saying, "Mommy!" over and over. I didn't know what to tell her. Instead we just all walked where we joined up with Sly and Kelsey. Kelsey heard Nicole's words and told me, "Logan she's right her mom is in there."  
I didn't know what to say, "Kelsey her mom died over 6 years ago."   
Kelsey looked confused, "No her mom is in there, she's been in hyper sleep for the last 6 years. Believe your kid Logan." I wanted to believe her, I really did. But the idea of Max being in suspended animation for the last 6 years was beyond belief.   
Then a voice behind us said, "Its ok Logan, I'm here." The voice belonged to a woman who I thought we had lost 6 years ago. I turned around and  
"Max?" I was bearly able to make out the words. The next thing I knew she was in my arms, we were hugging each other. I wanted to ask her a question, one that I could not make out, "How?"  
She smiled at my stuttering, "Like Kelsey said, when I died that night Manticore, or what was left of it, put me in hyper sleep until they could remove the implant without killing me. They did, just last month. Then Nicole came in here, I tried my hardest to get her and Kelsey out, but I wasn't strong enough. So I just watched after them as best as I could."  
My attention was brought back to Nicole, "What did they do to her?"   
Max answered, "As far as I know they did the same as they did to us when we were younger, only she wasn't raised like we were and her body couldn't take it. If she didn't do a drill or something right they would punish her." She left my arms and went over to Nicole. Max stroked Nikki's hair and whispered to her, "Its gonna be alright baby, mommy's here they can't hurt you again."   
Nicole turned her head towards Max, "Mommy?"  
Max smiled, "Yeah baby, mommy's going to make sure everything is all right." Nikki smiled at her mom as Max rubbed Nikki's back, gently. Zack looked at Max dumb founded, he wasn't able to speak to his baby sis. Its amazing how 5 minutes of a real macho man's life can turn him into a dumb founded idiot. Max knew what to do, she went over and gave her big brother a gentle hug. After a minute or so, Zack found himself able to hug his sister back. He smiled more than I have seen Zack smile for a long time. He told her, "Hey baby sis."   
She responded, "Hey big bro."   
I smiled as I watched them hug for a minute. I looked at Zack, "May I have my little baby back?" I meant Nicole. I walked over to Zack and he let me have Nicole back as Zack placed his arm around Max. I looked at my baby, her eyes where now begaing to get some focus in them. She also looked really unhealthy and tiered. I had to get her to the ambulance fast. I walked fast enough for her to feel comfortable and for me to feel like I was helping my baby.  
I reached a paramedic a minute later, he took Nicole from my arms as quickly as they could set her on the stretcher. Within seconds all the trained medical staff were around her, checking BP's, heart rate, pulse rater, blood flow and all. They began asking us questions about allergies and all. Max really didn't know anything so I took care of the questions. Max answered any questions she could on what happened.   
"Oh my god!" One of the paramedics declared as they ripped Nikki's shirt off. Max looked at them with all concern for her baby in her eyes. The paramedic told us, "Look here, close to her heart, it looked like somebody tried to stab her in the heart and missed." Just then I saw Max's usually calm and cool face fill with furry and hatred towards whomever has done this to Nikki. I knew that my blood pressure must be boiling with hatred by now too. I didn't know how much more of this silent torture I could take. I have to stay strong for Nikki and Max both.   
The paramedics finally decided that Nicole was ok to take back to the hospital now. They didn't have to give Nikki anything to knock her out, she was out cold when they began to work on her. They asked us if we would like to ride with her, Max said she would while I told them I would follow with my own car.   
They asked me to go home and get a pair of Nikki's PJ shorts bottoms. They told me that they had to undress her to look at her other injuries and they knew that Nicole would be embarrassed if she woke up and found herself naked in front of a bunch of strangers. They thought that the shorts wouldn't provide her with much comfort but at least it was something.   
On the way home, Zack and I took my car. I felt like I was going to cry any minute now. I knew Zack was trying to hold back tears for Nikki and Max both. He was still in shock from his baby sis still being alive. I don't know if his face was full of concern or pure shock, maybe both.

Max's POV  
I am in complete shock as I ride to the hospital with my little girl. It seems as though every minute they find a new injury that catches me off guard. Why did this have to happen to my baby? Why couldn't this happen to me instead? As a mother, I would gladly take this away from Nicole and place it upon myself if I could.   
As we arrive at the hospital, I am caught off guard. I am in too much shock to cry. So far they have found that knife wound next to her heart, bumps and bruises everywhere, and her knee cap is shattered they say. With that info in mind they have to be extremely careful while working in that area.   
They get out and wheeled Nikki on her stretcher inside I followed them. I must look like a zombie at the moment. They wheel her into the trauma operating room, I am supposed to wait outside. How can I wait when my daughter is in trouble? Nothing can prepare even the best mother for the pain that she'll feel when her like baby is sick. Especially when her little baby is only 9 years old.  
The next hour or so went by like a blur to me. Logan showed up to give the PJ to the nurses. The next thing I knew was he was sitting right next to me, his arms dropped over my shoulders.   
The doctor came out, "I have some bad news." For a minute there I think my heart stopped, "Nicole is blood type AP- now that is a very rare type of blood to find. We've called the blood banks they're all tapped out. We only have one more unit for her. I would like to ask you if"  
I interrupted him in mid sentence, "I am an universal donor, I can give my baby as much blood as she needs." The doctor smiled nodded and told me to follow him. I did and he led me to a room where he took out a lot of my blood. It didn't matter to me all that mattered was that this was going to help Nicole get better. I had to do this; it was a mother's duty to make sure nothing happened to her baby. I have already broken that vow but maybe this will help make up for it.  
Hours later I was sitting in the waiting room outside of Nikki's room waiting for any information on my baby. Logan and Zack are here too. Zack was standing up, Logan had taken the seat next to me.  
The doctor came out and told us, "She's awake, not much for conversation yet though. You may see her but don't upset her or" He didn't get a chance to finish, I sneaked in past him and was by Nikki's bed in a minute.   
"Nicole?" I asked, relived to see her sitting up and she was staring out the window. She heard me I know. But Nikki didn't bother to even glance up to look this way. Her shirt was still off, a light sheet was still around her legs and came up to her stomach. I could see the bandages that covered up her knife stab wound. There were no other bandages to cover up the various other wounds around her chest and arms. I tried to get her to talk to me, "They did a nice job patching you up. You look better than you did this morning." She shrugged. I nodded and took the seat next to her bed. I continued, "I'll be right here when you decide to talk to me."   
Nicole turned her head to look at me. She didn't say anything. For one brief moment I could have sworn that I saw a slight smile spread across her tiny little face. She scanned me over before returning to staring out into the outside world, perhaps wanting to be there instead of sick in the hospital.   
"I'll be here," I told her one last time so she knew, "I'll be here baby, I won't go anywhere." 


End file.
